Marionette



USlNS 5 MARIONETTE May 1940.

Filed y 4, 1939 3 heets-s 1 VVVVVVVVVW INV -2): (fans/ BY ATTORNEY S.USINSKIS MARIONETTE ,3 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed May 4, 1939 .-w 3. H T. N 3.w vU T N T y M 5m 23, 4 s. usmsxls 2 2,202,677

MARIONETTE Filed May 4, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet :s

I INVENTOR Sidsys (Isms/m ATTORN EY meme '28, m" 23025 71 U ITED STATESPATENT orsion smy s'wm fi fi mu m 3 Claims, (Cl. 46l26) 271,637

This'invention relates to new and useful im- Fig. 10 is a plan view ofthe. lower lip. provements in marionettes. Fig. 11 is a perspectiveview'oi the eyelid.

The invention has for an object the construc- Fig. 12 is a side view theeyelid. 4 tion of a marionette consisting of a body having. Fig. 13 isaside view oi the head showing one a movable head, a torso constructedof separate 0! the adjusted positions or the parts. 5 sections, andmovable legs and arms. Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 13 illustratingStill further it is proposed to provide springs another position of theparts. between the separate parts forming said body Fig. 15 is stillanother view similar to Fig. 13 in a manner to permit said parts to beturned and and illustrating another position of the parts.

' 1o pivoted to various desired positions to simulate Fig. 16 is anotherview similar to Fig. 13 illusthe movements of the human body. trating astill further position 01' the parts.'

Still further it is proposed to provide the head The marionette,according to this invention, inwith a movable lower jaw controlled bystrings cludesa body having a head Ill and a torso II and provided witha-spring adapted to urge the consisting of an upper section ll': and abottom 16 lower jaw into a normal closed position. section II". .Aspring 12 is mounted upon the Still further it is proposed to providemovable upper torso section II forming the neck and eyes for the headwhich are urged into a normal pivotaliy connects the head with thetorso. position by means of springs and which have Springs I3 aremounted between the upper torso strings connected therewith in a mannerto persection II and the bottom torso section ll for go mit the eyes tobe moved to various desired posipermitting the torson sections to assumevarious 20 tions within the sockets formed in the head. pivotedpositions. with relation to each other. Still further it is proposed toprovide a pair Springs I extend from the sides of the upper of lipspivotally mounted upon'the head and torso section II and form theshoulders and provided with springs for urging the same into upper armportions of the marionette. Members a normal position and having stringsconnected l5 are mounted on the ends of the springs l4 and 25 therewithin a manner to permit the lips to be form the lower arms for themarionette. Springs moved. l6 are mounted upon the members l5 and formAnother object of the invention is to provide the wrists oi the device.the eyes of the head with eyelid members which Amember I1 is connectedto each of the springs are adapted to be moved through the medium of ISand forms the palm of the hand, and plu- 30 the strings connectedtherewith. rality of springs I! extend from the mg mbers For furthercomprehension of the invention, l1 forming the fingers and are providedwith and of the objects and advantages thereof, referfinger tips l9.Each of the arms is similar in ence will be had to the followingdescription and construction. accompanying'drawings, and to the appendedMembers 20 form the upper legs of the mari- 35 claims in which thevarious novel features of the onette and are provided with sockets 20within invention are more particularly set forth. which balls 2| areadapted to nestle for forming In the accompanying drawing forming amatethe connections between the lower torso section rial part of thisdisclosure:- II and the legs. The balls 2| are maintained in 40 Fig. 1is a perspective view of a marionette position within the sockets 20 bymeans of straps 40 constructed according to this invention. 22 whichextend between the balls 2| and the Fig. 2 is a side elevational view ofFig, 1. upper ends of the members 20.

Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of the A means is provided forconnecting the balls head, per se. 20 to the lower section ll of thetorso I i for per- Fig. 4 is an elevational view of Fig. 3. mitting thelegs to be moved to various pivoted 45 Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectionalview of one of positions with relation to the torso. This means theeyes, per se. comprises a spring 23 extending through the balls Fig. 6is a side view illustrating another of the 21 and which have their ends23 bent upwards pivoted positions of the eyes. and passed throughLi-shaped clips 24 mounted Fig. 7 is aside elevational view illustratingupon the lower torso section II. The ends of the 50 another pivotedposition of the eyes. springs 23 are securely attached to the lower Fig.8 is a perspective view of a head contorso section H at a point abovethe clips 24. structed according to a modification of the inven- Springs25 continue from the bottom end or tion. I the members 20 and have theupper ends of the II Fig. 9 is a plan view of the upper lip. legsections 2! connected therewith. A means is provided for limiting thepivoting oi the leg sec tion: 26 to a front and rearward movement only.This means comprises a flexible member {21 which has its upper endssecurely attached to the members 20 andwhich extend downwards along thesides of the leg sections 21. The bottom ends vof the flange members areslidably passed through U-shaped members 28 mounted on the sides of theleg sections 26. The free ends of the flexible members 21 are bentoutwards as indicated by the reference numeral 21*.to prevent theirdisengagement trom the U-shaped members 28. Springs 23 are connectedtothe lower ends of the leg sections 23 and comprise the angles of themarionette, and have the feet 30 connected thereto. At various pointsthroughout the body of the marionette there is provided a plurality ofscrews 38 to which strings are adapted to be attached !or permitting thesections of the body to be flexed as desired to simulate the movementsof the human body. The operation of this marionette is somewhat similarto the marionettes generally used today, that is the movements thereofare controlled by pulling the strings to cause the sections of the bodyto move in one direction, and by pulling other strings for causing thesections of the body to move in the other direction.

The details of the head are shown in Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive. As shown inthese figures, the head consists of a hollow main section illconstructed of sheet metal and upon which a lower jaw lo is pivotallysupported. The sections forming the head at the mouthare formed withinwardly-extending portions |ll which prevent one from looking into theinterior thereof when the lower jaw Ill is moved to an open positionwith relation to the section 10. A means is provided for permitting thelower jaw ID to be moved to its open position and comprises a block 32which has one of its ends securely attached to the main portion ill ofthe head and which extends downwards at an inclination thereto to aposition adjacent the lower jaw m.

The bottom end of the member 32 is bifurcated and has a lever 33pivotally supported upon a pintle 34 which extends between the arms ofthe bifurcated end. One end of the lever 33 bears against the insideface of the lower jaw Ifl and the other end has a string 35 connectedthereto and which extends through the top wall of the head and isadapted to pull the lever 33 to open the lower jaw l0. A spring 36 hasone of its ends attached to the lower jaw Ill and the other of its endsattached to the block 32 for urging the jaw lo into a normal closedposition when no pressure is applied to the string 35.

, The head It is further provided with a pair of eyes which areoperative in socket Hi formed in the head I 0. Each of the eyescomprises an eyeball 31 which engages its respective socket Hi A yoke 38for each eyeball 31 is pivotally supported at its rear and has a pair offorwardly extending fingers 38 which engage opposite sides or theeyeball 31. A block 39 is mounted in back of the head l0 and has afinger 40 for each of the eyeballs extending therefrom. The yoke 33 isprovided with a rearwardly extending trunnion 4| which turnably engagesthe finger 40. A pintle 42 is extended through each of the eyeballs31.and each pintle has its ends turnably supported in the arms 38 of theyoke 38.

tion between the arms 38' on the yoke upon which the eyeball issupported.

aaoaerv A. lever 43 extends from each eyeball 31 to a posi-.

A stationary element 4| is mounted between the side walls of the headand parallel to the eyeballs 31. A string 43 has one of its endsattached to the lever 33 and the other of its ends extended downwardsover. the stationary element at and .then passed through the top oi thehead to be pulled for causing the .eyeball to be pivoted upwards. Astring 46 has its end attached to the lever 63 and passed through thetop of the head for being pulled to cause the eyeball to pivotdownwards.

A means is also provided for causing. a rocking motion to be imparted tothe eyeballs within the sockets it. This means comprises a member 61which extends across the arms 38 of the yoke 38 and which has strings 48connected thereto and passed through the top of the head in a manner tobe successively pulled for causing the eyes to rock. A spring 49 foreach of the eyeballs 31. has one of its ends connected to the eyeballand the other of its ends connected to the back of the head for urgingthe eyes into their normal position with 'relationto the sockets l0.

According to the modification of the invention shown in Figs. 8 to 16inclusive, the construction of the marionette is similar to thatpreviously described except for the construction 01' the head ill. Thehead l0 consists of a main section ill upon which an upper lip 50 and alower lip 5| are pivotally supported. The ends of the lips 50 and 5| areprovided with trunnions which are'pivotally supported in the head It.The top lip 50 is provided with a rearwardly extending lever 52 and thelower lip 5| is provided with a rearwardly extending lever -53. A spring54 is connected to the lever 52 and a portion of-the head for urging theupper lip into a normal position. A similar spring 55 is connected tothe lever 53 of the lower lip 5| for urging this lip into a normalposition. A spring 53 is adapted to be attached to the lever 53 of thelower lip for causing the lower lip to be pivoted to various positionsabout the trunnions which pivotally support the same.

A string 51 is attached to the lever 52 of the upper lip 50 and passesdownwards over a sta-' tionary element 58 and through the top or thehead in a manner to be pulled for causing the upper lip 50 to be pivotedupwards. A string 53 is connected to the lever 52 of the upper lip 50and extends through the top of the head It in a manner to be pulled forcausing the lips ill and 5! to move downwards. I

The head 50' is also provided with eyelids 60 for covering the eyes ill"of the head Ill. The

eyelids are provided with outwardly extending trunnions GI whichpivotally support the eyelids 60. A lever 62 extends rearwards from eachof the eyelids 60 and has a string 63 connected therewith in a manner tocause the eyelid to be pivoted to a position in which it will urging thelid 60 into a position as shown on the righthandside of Fig. 8.

Figs. 13 to 16 show diiferent positions which the eyelids and lips mayassume when certain of the strings connected with these parts arepulled.

while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to thepre-' cise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved toall changes and modifications coming within thescope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a marionette, a hollow head having eye sockets, eyes engaging saidsockets, a yoke for each eye pivotally supported at its rear and havinga pair of forwardly projecting fingers engaging opposite sides of saideye, pintles engaging through the ends of said fingers and diametricallythrough said eyes for turnably supporting the eyes, a radial leverprojecting from the back of each eye, a stationary element, stringsconnected with said levers and extending over said stationary elementfor pulling the eyes in one direction, other strings connected with saidlevers for pulling the eyes in the other direction, and strings forpivoting said yokes.

2. In a marionette, a, hollow head having eye sockets, eyes engagingsaid sockets, a yoke for each eye pivotally supported at its rear andhaving a pair of forwardly projecting fingers engaging opposite sides ofsaid eye, pintles engaging through the ends said fingers anddiametrically through said eyes for turnably supporting the eyes, aradial lever projecting from the back of each eye, a stationary element,strings connected with said levers and extending over said stationaryelement for pulling the eyes in one direction, other strings connectedwith said levers for pulling the eyes in the other direction, andstrings for pivoting said yokes, and springs connected to said eyes andto a portion of said head for urging said eyes into their normalposition.

3. In a marionette, a torso, a pair of legs, and means for connectingthe bottom end of said torso to the top ends of said legs, comprising aspherical member engaging a socket formed in the upper end of each ofsaid legs, straps having one of their ends attached to the top of saidlegs and the other of their ends attached to said spherical members forfixedly holding said spherical members in position in said sockets, saidtorso being rested on said spherical members, and means for pivotallyconnecting said torso to said spherical members, comprising a, U-shapedspring having its intermediate arm rotatively extended diametricallythrough said spherical members and its side arms securely attached todi- 25 ametricallyopposite sides of the bottom end of said torso.

STASYS USINSKIS.

